Thursday F1 Briefing: Roscoe scares, Bernie bites back, Grosjean straps in again, and Ferrari’s radio tango
Lewis Hamilton’s first season in red has already thrown up a few surprises, but none more personal than the one that hit him this week. The seven-time champion asked fans to send “thoughts and prayers” after a “scary few hours” with his dog Roscoe, the 12-year-old bulldog that’s been as familiar in the paddock as a set of softs since Hamilton’s early Mercedes days. No further detail was offered beyond a photo of Roscoe looking worse for wear, but Hamilton’s tone did the talking. If you’ve followed his career, you know: family first, including the four-legged kind.
Elsewhere, a very different blast from the past: Bernie Ecclestone has pushed back at the suggestion Formula 1 authorities buried the truth around the 2008 Singapore Grand Prix, the race at the heart of Felipe Massa’s $82 million legal challenge. Massa, who lost that year’s title to Hamilton by a single point, has argued it would be “unacceptable” if those in charge concealed wrongdoing tied to the Crashgate affair. Ecclestone’s response? A flat denial of any cover-up. Seventeen years on, the sport is still unpicking the knots of a night race that changed everything.
Romain Grosjean is also back in F1 colors this week—at least for a day. The Frenchman will reunite with Haas for a TPC (testing of previous cars) outing at Mugello on Friday, his first proper run with the team since the fiery end to his Grand Prix career in Bahrain 2020. For a squad that’s spent much of its life grinding for points on the edge of the midfield, Grosjean remains a bright spot; his fourth place in Austria 2018 is still the best finish in Haas’s history. There’s a storybook quality to seeing him in their overalls again, and Mugello—fast, flowing, unforgiving—feels like an apt stage.
In the here and now, Ferrari’s communications have taken center stage—again. The Azerbaijan Grand Prix ended with a messy radio call that asked Charles Leclerc to let Lewis Hamilton through late on. Hamilton backed off approaching the flag, Leclerc eased too, and the order didn’t change. Cue the post-race frostiness. Jacques Villeneuve, never shy with a mic in hand, reckons Hamilton “played it well” and that Ferrari didn’t need to choreograph the swap at all, arguing the tyre offset would’ve taken care of it without politics. Hard to disagree. If there’s one thing Ferrari didn’t need after a summer of scrutiny, it was a made-for-TV moment that invited more of it.
And then there’s Williams, who found a rare slice of sunshine in Baku. Carlos Sainz delivered the team’s first podium since George Russell’s weather lottery at the shortened 2021 Belgian Grand Prix, a result that drew a warm nod from former deputy team principal Claire Williams. She applauded Sainz and the squad, adding her late father Sir Frank would’ve been “very proud.” Not many drivers could’ve sold a patient rebuild to a global audience quite like Sainz has this season, and this result felt like a payoff for months of quiet graft at Grove.
Five quick observations from a week that moved fast:
– Hamilton’s Ferrari tenure is as high-wire as expected—still blisteringly quick, occasionally complicated, always newsworthy. The Roscoe scare also reminds you he wears his heart on his sleeve more than most in this paddock.
– Massa’s legal fight keeps 2008 within reach of the present. If nothing else, it’s a stark reminder that F1’s past is never tidy—and that the consequences of one night in Singapore still ripple.
– Grosjean’s Haas test isn’t just nostalgia. It’s a feel-good reset for a team that’s needed a jolt, and a driver who left the sport with unfinished business and a fanbase still cheering him on.
– Ferrari’s Baku call was the kind of self-inflicted headache that top teams try to scrub from their playbook. Expect a tighter, clearer approach in the next crunch moment between its lead duo.
– Williams’ podium isn’t a fluke. It’s the sort of result that can change the mood of a factory, especially when delivered by a driver who’s been there and done it at the front.
The calendar doesn’t slow down, and neither do the storylines. Hamilton’s hoping for calm with Roscoe and clarity on Sundays. Ecclestone and Massa will keep their fight in the legal ring. Grosjean gets one more proper dance with Haas. Ferrari will tidy up its comms. And Williams? They’ll bottle that Baku feeling and try to make it routine. In 2025, routine is the rarest thing of all.
